“Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, ‘Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.’”
1 Kings 17:8-9

Elijah had shown himself to King Ahab and delivered the message that there would be neither dew nor rain except at his word. But then the Lord instructed him to hide himself by the Brook Cherith, where he would be fed by ravens morning and evening. But the lessons concerning the value of the hidden life were not over for him. The Lord had used unclean birds to feed Elijah, and now He was going to use a poor widow who was in a dire situation herself.

Elijah obeys and meets the widow at the city gates, gathering sticks to make a fire for the last meal for herself and her son. He asks her, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink” (v. 10). The widow begins to respond to his request in spite of her own suffering. Elijah takes his request even further, asking her to bring some bread with the water. The widow responds, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die” (v. 12). Elijah then assures her, “For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, the jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth” (v. 14). This part of their story ends with blessing: “So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days” (v. 15).

What was the turning point of this story? It was when Elijah could say, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel.” Elijah had learned to live a surrendered life by hiding himself. He had learned that little surrendered to the Lord is much in His hand. Then, together, Elijah and the widow learned the truth of Psalm 73:25-26: “Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

Hope was set before them as Elijah assured her that nothing would run out “until the Lord sends rain upon the earth,” and they experienced the help of the Lord when “the bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the LORD.” All this flows out of the life of one who hid himself in the presence of the Lord.